Have you ever stopped and thought about the hardest time you have had as a parent. What your biggest obstacles, struggles and stresses are. I have been asked this many times and after a lot of thought I have the
answer.
As most of you know I have 4 biological boys and 2 adopted girls. My girls are older…quite a bit older. When I first had the pleasure of being their Mom I knew adjusting to life with different age ranges would be hard. I never really knew how hard.
I remember my first high school PTA meeting. My daughter was class officer and a very well organized one at that. I knew I could not let her down. I had to step up and get in there and help with whatever needed to be done. I must say we were quite the team and we planned the most epic prom you ever did see…I mean it! It was something to talk about!
During this time I had two little ones and another on the way. For the most part the other Moms in the PTA welcomed me with open arms and I actually made some new friendships. Others looked at me like I was wearing the scarlet letter. They judged me because I was pregnant and a PTA meeting with my 17 year old daughter.
I thought this scenario would pass and would become easier as my kids got older and I really thought I would know to handle those situations better as time went on. Nope. When my daughter went 
to college and I attended my first Mom’s Day at her sorority, again, many of the Moms welcomed me with open arms and some did not. During dinner my daughter and I noticed a table of Moms that were staring right at us and we knew they were talking about us. I just don’t get why there has to be so much judgment.
When I attend school functions and meetings for my younger boys I have not once felt like I was being judged. As a matter of fact most of those women take the time to get to know me and learn about how our family came to be.
Why must we judge other? What if I did have my fist baby at the age of 13. Does that mean 17 years later I did not learn from my mistakes or take steps to better my life and the life of my children?
I still to this day struggle with the different ages of my children. My older boys and girls want to go out to eat, go bowling, explore and do things. I get that and I try my best too make all of these things happen. My littlest one just can’t hang with all of that yet and quite frankly I can’t hang with that just yet either. The anxiety that goes along with a little one that just wants down, doesn’t want to eat, who has found his voice and just wants to be crazy is exhausting!
I worry and do my best to make sure my love is shown equally to every single one of them the same. I do my best to make sure that birthdays, holidays, special events and big life moments are celebrated the same. With all of that worry and torture I place on myself the last thing I need is another parent placing their judgment on me and their lack of knowledge of my family.
As parents, friends, acquaintances and just human beings we should be building each other up and stop tearing each other down. We are each 
given a life with a different story and if we could just support each other and share our experiences I believe we would all be so much better off.
I have certainly made mistakes in my parenting. I have called cake and ice cream a meal. I have injured my kids on accident. They have thrown fits in the store, called me names, said bad words, picked their noses in public, left the house in embarrassing outfits but it will all be ok. They will grow up to be successful human beings and I will have plenty of stories to tell them one day.
And as for my experiences with judgment, I now have those experiences to share with my kids and to remind myself that no matter what we always end up just fine. I have learned myself not to judge and to give the benefit of the doubt because you just never know where someone has been and where they are going.
SO, in the spirit of love I would like to do a little give away. I love to support and encourage my Mom friends out there. I know so many that own/run their own business, run their houses as stay at home Moms, work and play the roll of Mom and well all of you are just simply Bosses and inspiration in my life.
I would LOVE for you to tag another Mom out there who is getting the job done. I am going to give away a mug from the fabulous Whitney Owens at A&W Crafting and a scrub/soak from the fabulous Lauren Rainwater at MixInaJar Shop! to two people. I encourage you to check out their pages and support their businesses! Let’s see how much love we can share and how much encouragement we can give. No judgement just building each other up!
How to enter:
- share this post
- tag a Mom or mom to be that inspires you and tell them why
- subscribe to this blog
- Join the group The Modern Mommy
Let’s spread the love and support each other! As always I love your feedback and I want to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below, like, share, pin, tag etc!
